


Birthday

by xaoxngchen



Category: ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream! AAside (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Headcanon, Momo-chan makes a cameo, References to Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27063142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaoxngchen/pseuds/xaoxngchen
Summary: Shu doesn't really look forward to his birthday.Part 2 is up!
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> **This work contains my own headcanon of Shu's past.**
> 
> I kind of projected myself into Shu here. I don't like my own birthday because I don't want to face how lonely it is. I think a lot of people also feel this way? Momo's breed is also not explicitly revealed yet but I like to think she's a big dog like a yellow lab or golden retriever. I think it's really cute if Shu is able to bury his entire face into her fur haha!
> 
> My Shu analysis [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fza0fCMsOWKgFmA4B29y8aaBPoox-m_MFnDz-cW2mxY/edit?usp=sharing)!

_**Birthday (Part 1)** _

_**Words: 857** _

**30th October 2016. Sunday.**

Shu stared at the blinding red crayon circle on his wall calendar. It was his birthday today, but he was not exactly looking forward to it. He did not know how or when it had started, but he developed a negative connotation of this day over the years. The time he took to get dressed, the time he took to reach the dining table for breakfast, it all grew longer little by little. And today, he made the same decision to drag his time.

Because there was something he did not wish to face.

Shu made the slow walk to the dining room, ignoring all of the greetings from the servants he passed by. Yesterday, his parents had promised to celebrate his birthday in the morning. But when he entered the dining room, only a slice of black forest cake and birthday card was on the table. The room was empty save for the head servant who was tasked with announcing the bad news.

"Shu-sama, Ujigawa-sama and his wife are out for a meeting and would not be returning until tonight. But they have sent their wishes."

Shu stared at the lonely cake and mumbled, "like hell they did." He then looked at the servant, "I want to be alone, get out."

The servant was unfazed by his mean words, as if he had already grown accustomed to Shu's vocabulary. He did not bat an eye at him and bowed gracefully.

"Have a great birthday, Shu-sama."

Shu watched him leave the room. Although the servant was then long gone, it took Shu a while before he finally moved nearer to the table. He picked up the card that had been neatly placed beside the plate. He did not really expect anything, but his heart soured immediately when all that was printed on this white card was a black and bold 'Happy Birthday' in a sickening cursive.

There was no other message, and it was not even handwritten.

For a moment, he wondered if his parents would resort to a better birthday card if they were not this busy. But he scoffed, knowing _that man_ would never make the effort himself anyways. He crushed the card in his fist and threw it far into a corner. It was just merely a useless piece of paper.

He sat down heavily on the chair and grabbed the fork. He would not allow himself to waste precious time moping over this. He picked at the plump cherry on top, moving it back and forth until it fell over and rolled out of the plate. He hated cherries.

The cake melted in his mouth and the rich chocolate cream overpowered his taste buds. But even though the cake was sweet, it tasted bitter in his mouth. As he continued to eat, there was an added hint of salt. It took him a moment to realise that it was his tears that had mixed into the desert. Taken aback by this sudden display, he quickly wiped them away from his face and gobbled down the remaining of the cake. He could not possibly be seen crying, could he?

Just then, he suddenly felt fur brushing against his leg and he looked down. His dear golden retriever, Momo, was nudging against him. She dropped her favourite chew toy from her mouth and stared up at him in anticipation. Shu got off the chair to sit beside her and threw the toy out of the room. Momo promptly fetched the toy and Shu threw it again.

He did not know if she had came because she had sensed his sadness, or she just simply wanted to play. But whatever it was, Momo always seemed to know when to appear and cheer him up. After they had played for some time, Momo resolved to lie down next to him and placed her head on his lap. Shu brushed his hand across her soft fur.

"Did ya know it's my birthday today?"

As if Momo was saying 'yes', she responded by licking his face and Shu could not help but to laugh from it. Momo then continued to chew on her toy while Shu watched silently. The mansion was not exactly as quiet though. He could hear the hush voices of the servants outside, the squeaking of the floors being wiped, and the snipping from the gardener maintaining the bushes right outside the window. But with Momo, it was as if he could drown out everything and be contented with just her presence.

"Shu-sama, it's time for your piano lesson."

The said boy looked up at the tall woman who was staring him down. Her seemingly unwavering glare was something he was still afraid of till this day. Dread washed over him as the thought of returning to his usual routine dawned on him. It seemed that even on his birthday, he could never catch a break. But there was nothing he could do about it.

"Momo-chan..." he buried his face into her golden fur, muffling his words. With a voice of defeat, he continued, "...there's only the two of us today again."


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This work contains my own headcanon of epsilon and Argonavis.**
> 
> My friends encouraged me to finish Part 2, and a part of me doesn't want to give up everything so here it is! Argonavis and epsilon's friendship in this headcanon is inspired by RAS and Poppin Party when the two bands became friends after their initial rivalry. I imagine the boys would also go through a similar thing. So this is the time period I thought is okay for Shu to have a party thrown for him.
> 
> I'm bad at writing happy moments so some areas might suck. But still, I hope you like this!

_**Birthday (Part 2)** _

_**Words: 1800** _

**30th October 20XX. Monday.**

The alarm clock rang blaringly in the early morning. Shu had woken up by himself a few minutes ago, but continued to stare at the ceiling in defeat. He heard the door opening and the alarm was turned off. Reiji's face came into view next.

"Good morning, Shu," he greeted first, "today is your birthday."

The said male gave a low grumble and sat up. Reiji continued, "your parents have sent a whole cake to the penthouse, in hopes that you would share some with the members. Do you like a slice for breakfast?"

Shu waved his hand and said, "I don't want it. Ya get rid of it."

"As you wish."

Shu then reached for his phone on the bed stand and checked his messages. His eyes darkened when he saw it was void of any new text, not even one from his parents.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Reiji asked.

"Nothin' in particular," Shu sighed, then looked up at him as his lips curved into a twisted smile, "why not entertain me for a bit?"

Reiji tried hard not to roll his eyes right there and then.

"Well, whatever. I'm not in the mood." He proceeded to grab his game console.

Reiji watched him switched it on and asked, "what about school?"

"I'm not in the mood," Shu repeated with more annoyance in his tone, "now get out of my room. Don't bother me."

"...Understood."

Reiji closed the door behind him with a soft thud. As Shu had instructed, he was now left all alone. The console screen eventually turned off and he stared at his own reflection. It had always been like this. The past few years were still empty promises and a cake to apologise for it. He hated having to spend the day knowing that it was supposed to be special. There was nothing to look forward to. There was nothing he knew he could do.

In the past, just like any other day, he would either be in some sort of music lesson or composing something. He could only get great comfort from Momo lying next to him during his breaks, occasionally nudging him to play fetch. But after moving to Tokyo, he no longer had her around. Hence, he only knew to spend it the way he had always done — alone. 

"Ah? Karasuma-senpai, where's Shu-kun?" Kanata asked when he noticed that Reiji had came out alone.

"He's in a bad mood. And he doesn't want any share of the cake so we can have it for breakfast."

"In a bad mood?" Tadaomi repeated.

Reiji heaved a deep sigh and continued, "my attendance will drop once again."

"Ehh? He's skipping school too?!"

"Quiet, Kanata." Reiji rubbed his forehead in frustration. He already had a lot on his plate, and now he had to deal with a moody child.

"Is there anything we can do?" Tadaomi asked.

"Why don't we throw him a surprise party?" Kanata suggested.

Tadaomi chirped, "that sounds like a good idea!"

"A party?" Reiji pondered for a moment, "with how last-minute this is, I'm not so sure..."

"Come on, senpai! It'll be so fun! We can finally blow balloons and decorate this place!" Kanata then scooted over to wrap his arm around Haruka's shoulders, "isn't that right, aniki?"

"Don't fucking touch me!" Haruka growled loudly.

"I might have a plan then...I'll have to be quick about this if we still wish to reach school on time," Reiji mumbled, painfully recalling how Shu would refuse to budge from the sharehouse whenever he was in a bad mood. _It's getting worse every year on this day_ , he thought to himself.

"Yahoo!!" Kanata cheered.

At that, Reiji sighed deeply again, "I expect everyone to help clean up afterwards!"

Shu's phone vibrated at the arrival of a notification and he unwillingly paused his game. Expecting it to just be Reiji, his eyes widened when he saw 'Nanahoshi Ren' as the sender instead. He scrambled to pick his phone up and opened the new text message.

__

> _"I heard that it's your birthday today. Happy birthday, Shu-kun! Argonavis and I will head over to your sharehouse this evening for the party. So, um...Go to school, alright?"_

Shu continued to stare at his phone in shock. _Argonavis? Nanahoshi Ren? Coming here?!_ Then, there was a knock on the door and Reiji stepped into the room.

"Shu, are you ready for school?" He asked.

Shu frowned at his usual poker face, it was as if Reiji was acting like he had no part in this. But even though Shu knew that he had done this to get him out of the house, he could not complain because he did not want to ruin the party Ren had mentioned. This would be something rather new to him, he would not want to miss any fun, would he? So he huffed and pretended to still be nonchalant about it.

"Fine. Let's see what that lowly Ren has to offer."

"Reiji-kun!"

The said male turned to see Ren waving to him as he walked over.

"Ren-san, thank you for coming."

"It was really nice of you to invite Argonavis over. I'm glad Shu-kun finally looks to be in high spirits!"

"Argonavis has been helping epsilon phi a lot. We are eternally grateful. However..." Reiji pushed up his glasses, "while Shu has been granted the leeway from his school due to his family, I don't have that same privilege. I just don't want my own attendance to be further affected by his willfulness."

Ren blinked at him, then laughed sheepishly, "ah...I see." He looked over at the birthday boy who was on his game console with Banri. The latter had borrowed Kanata's, so they seemed to be having a match. Yuto was watching them with great awe. "Still...I'm really glad."

Reiji gave him a curious look while Ren kept his gaze.

"Although this is an impromptu party and there is nothing much to it, I can tell that Shu-kun is really enjoying himself. It's rare to see him this happy. He doesn't have many birthday parties, does he?"

"Yes, his parents are often away from home."

"I think...I can understand him a little better now..." Ren then recalled, "that day when he mumbled how lucky I was with a family who had raised me well, I didn't understood what he really meant. But as I kept interacting with him, I feel as though he is always looking for something."

"Is that so..."

"Reiji-kun, you're always by his side, didn't you realise anything?"

"Well..."

"I don't blame you," Ren chuckled softly, "he's a handful most of the times."

"He really is," Reiji sighed.

"Then...I will do my best. I will do my best to help him find what he's looking for."

Ren did not say much, but Reiji could see fire in his eyes. He turned his attention to Shu, watching him yelling at Banri for overtaking him in a racing game. Reiji did not feel as much sympathy for him though. Maybe he had been tortured for far too long and could not bring himself to feel bad for that boy. He did not know what Ren had seen in Shu, he could not understand. But Ren had endured so much of his taunts for the past years and he never once gave up. Maybe...if Shu have a chance at redemption...and if the only person who could make that happen was Ren, then so be it.

"In that case, I'll cheer you on...Both of you..."

That night, Shu sat alone in his room. His desk was scattered with papers and his laptop illuminated the only light in the room. The adrenaline from the party had not all settled down yet and the memories were still fresh in his mind. He had gotten the inspiration to write another song but lost track of the time. Living away from home gave him a bit of freedom in the sense that nobody would force him to go to bed. He was growing tired though, so it was probably better if he hit the hay soon.

Just as he was pushing his papers into a messy stack, he felt a harder material nestled in between. It was an envelope and he finally remembered this was given by Ren before they left. He should probably open it. He pulled out a card from inside, and was painfully reminded of this same texture from so many years. However, this one was different.

It was not a plain white card. There was an extravagant picture printed on the front with a colourful 'Happy Birthday' right at the center. It looked just like those he saw on display racks when he passed by some stores. He flipped the card open and did not expect it to be filled with a message — a _handwritten_ message.

His chest begun to feel warm. Tears made their way to his eyes. He blinked them away, trying desperately to continue reading the paragraph through the blurriness.

"What is this...?" He tried to fake disbelief but choked from the tears instead.

Every word felt like a twist of his heart. But this did not feel like the usual jealousy, there was warmth but also sadness. Maybe...a longing? He could not really understand what he was feeling, but he did not want to let go of this card either. When he finally read 'Nanahoshi Ren' being signed at the end, he gritted his teeth as more tears flowed freely.

He had been around so many people since he was younger, but he could not remember a single moment he had felt this same way. He seldom had a birthday party so all he did was play games. He never had many guests over just for him, so he did not know how to host. He never received a birthday gift that was not just store-bought sweets, so he did not know what to do with this card. All of the birthday cards in the previous years were immediately dumped into the trash as if the mere sight of them disgusted him. But this card was different. He wanted to keep this somewhere safe. He could not bear to lose this.

 _Is this what it feels like to have a birthday party? To have a gift? Is this happiness? Is this friendship?_ Shu did not know. There were so many things he did not know. No matter how strong he fronted, he could never shake off the sour feeling of envy. He was always an onlooker of others' happy occasions. But this time he was on the receiving end. How was he supposed to react? Surely crying wasn't the way?

"How dare you...Ren...onii-san...What am I supposed to do...?" 

_Someone...please tell me..._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Shu! May you find true happiness and recover from your past. Be the best person you can be! I believe in you! <3


End file.
